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Saturday, 30 January 2010

I met with my London Fashion Designer again today. I really wish I could show some of the ideas she has come up with and the results both as pieces of glass and on the cloth. Unfortunately there are too many people who will steal ideas, so everything has to be kept under wraps (Ha!) until the catwalk day. Then people can take videos, photos, etc. as the concept is shown to be hers.

The past fortnight has been a time of translating the full sized templates and markings and decorations to fused and slumped shapes. Lots of text messages asking questions. Emails to send pictures of the next pieces, revisions, changed deadlines and more. Always it is worrying when the packed box is sent off by carrier.

The end of last week it was important to have a box in London by Saturday. It made it and the pieces were still whole. This week, the the box had to be in London by Tuesday morning. I got the box packed, in spite of having to fire one piece an extra time to get it to fit into the tall kiln. Three of the pieces were still warm as I wrapped them in corrugated paper! The box went away, but it did not appear before 9am as promised! It wasn't there by 10:30 either. So the phone calls began to try to trace this box of about 12 pieces. Nobody seemed to know.

The designer was frantic, and clearly was going to do a better job of getting the delivery company to produce the box. It seems she got to one of the senior managers and then discovered that the truck taking the boxes to London had broken down! So why couldn't the staff put that information on their computers so all the tele-people could tell the concerned customers? The box was finally delivered on Wednesday, before 9. Now the fight to keep from being charged for a service that was not delivered begins.

I am finding the designer a joy to work with. She gives instructions and deadlines and lets me get on with it. If I get it wrong, she tells me and I fix it. If she gets it wrong, she tells me and we fix it together. Yes there is quite a bit of pressure, but no tension.

Monday, 4 January 2010

Now I have another good reason to show people round the studio. A couple came in to look at some bowls and bought one. While they were there and expressing interest in what I did, they saw an open kiln with a body mould there that I had not put away after forming some jewellery for a fashion designer on it.

They immediately liked it, saying that is what our daughter would really like. They asked for an indicative price, and asked to bring their daughter in to see. She came, she saw, she liked and she paid a deposit.

Now I have to prepare a strong vermiculite mould that will be mounted on the wall. I think I will need to seal the back at the very least. If the sculpture gets the attention that the figures do at Angkor Wat, there will be enough oils spread on the front to keep it in good condition.